Satellite communications with multiple classes of terrestrial terminal devices

ABSTRACT

In one implementation, a communications satellite includes a main antenna system and a communications controller. The main antenna system is configured to send communications to and receive communications from one or more terrestrial terminal devices. The communications controller has a memory storing a plurality of terminal attribute sets, each of which specifies attributes for communicating with a corresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices. The communications controller is configured to receive a terminal class identifier from an active terrestrial terminal device, identify, from among the stored terminal attribute sets, a particular terminal attribute set as corresponding to the terminal class identifier received from the active terrestrial terminal device, and control the communications satellite to communicate with the active terrestrial terminal device according to the attributes for communicating specified in the particular terminal attribute set identified as corresponding to the terminal class identifier received from the active terrestrial terminal device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/690,646 filed on Aug. 30, 2017, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to accommodating multiple terminalclasses, and specifically to accommodating multiple terminal classes ina satellite system.

SUMMARY

According to one implementation of the disclosure, a communicationssatellite includes a main antenna system and a communicationscontroller. The main antenna system is configured to send communicationsto and receive communications from one or more terrestrial terminaldevices. The communications controller has a memory storing a pluralityof terminal attribute sets, each of which specifies attributes forcommunicating with a corresponding class of terrestrial terminaldevices. The communications controller is configured to receive aterminal class identifier from an active terrestrial terminal device,identify, from among the stored terminal attribute sets, a particularterminal attribute set as corresponding to the terminal class identifierreceived from the active terrestrial terminal device, and control thecommunications satellite to communicate with the active terrestrialterminal device according to the attributes for communicating specifiedin the particular terminal attribute set identified as corresponding tothe terminal class identifier received from the active terrestrialterminal device.

According to another implementation of the disclosure, a plurality ofterminal attribute sets, each of which specifies attributes forcommunicating with a corresponding class of terrestrial terminaldevices, are stored in a memory associated with a communicationscontroller of a communications satellite. A terminal class identifier isreceived from an active terrestrial terminal device via a main antennasystem of the communications satellite that is configured to sendcommunications to and receive communications from one or moreterrestrial terminal devices in a satellite communications network.Thereafter, a particular terminal attribute set is identified from amongthe stored terminal attribute sets as corresponding to the terminalclass identifier received from the active terrestrial terminal device,and the communications satellite is controlled to communicate with theactive terrestrial terminal device according to the attributes forcommunicating specified in the particular terminal attribute setidentified as corresponding to the terminal class identifier receivedfrom the active terrestrial terminal device.

Other features of the present disclosure will be apparent in view of thefollowing detailed description of the disclosure and the accompanyingdrawings. Implementations described herein, including theabove-described implementations, may include a method or process, asystem, or computer-readable program code embodied on computer-readablemedia.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, referencenow is made to the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a system for accommodatingmultiple terminal classes in a satellite system in accordance with anon-limiting implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a satellite in accordance with anon-limiting implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for accommodating multiple terminalclasses in a satellite system in accordance with a non-limitingimplementation of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate an example terminal class table according to anon-limiting implementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A satellite communications system enables wireless voice and datacommunications. Hand-held satellite phones and other terminals transmitcommunications to and/or receive communications from one or moresatellites in the satellite communications network. The satellites routecommunications received from or destined to terminals through thesatellite communications network, for example, through inter-satellitewireless communications crosslinks, and/or to one or more interfaces toexternal communications networks (including, but not limited to, theInternet and/or telephone communications networks), for example, via aterrestrial Earth station, ground gateway, or other communicationsnetwork servicing station.

By coordinating the regions to which multiple satellites provide servicecoverage, a satellite communications network may provide servicecoverage across an expansive geographic region and, in some cases,globally. In some implementations, a satellite communications networkmay be composed of multiple satellites in low-Earth orbit (“LEO”) (e.g.,having an altitude between the Earth's surface and approximately 1,200miles) arranged in coordinated orbits to provide service coverage acrosslarge regions of the Earth. In one particular implementation, asatellite communications network may be composed of multiple LEOsatellites (e.g., 66 satellites) that are connected by wirelessinter-satellite communications crosslinks and that are arranged inmultiple planes (e.g., 6 planes of 11 satellites each) havingsubstantially polar orbits so as to provide substantially global servicecoverage. In such an implementation, as the satellites orbit, thegeographic regions covered by their coverage footprints may change suchthat, in order to continue to handle a communications session with aparticular terminal, the communications session may be handed off fromone satellite to another. Additionally or alternatively, in someimplementations, a communications session with a particular terminalalso may be handed off between different beams of an individualsatellite as the satellite orbits and the geographic regions covered bythe beams of the satellite change.

As described above, in some implementations, a satellite communicationsnetwork may interface with one or more additional external networks. Insuch implementations, a ground gateway may provide the interface betweenthe satellite communications network and one or more additional externalnetworks. When communications that originate within the satellitecommunications network and that are destined for an external networkreach such a ground gateway, the ground gateway (and, in someimplementations, one or more additional components such as, for example,a switch) routes the communications to appropriate destinations on theexternal network. Additionally or alternatively, the ground gateway mayperform data transformations and other processing functions to convertcommunications from the satellite network into a format recognized bythe destination external network. Similarly, communications thatoriginate on an external network and that are destined for the satellitecommunications network may be received by the ground gateway and routedto appropriate destinations on the satellite communications network. Insuch cases, the ground gateway may perform data transformations andother processing functions to convert the communications from theexternal network into a format recognized by the satellitecommunications network before routing the communications to terminals inthe satellite communications network.

In some implementations, a satellite communications network may beconfigured to provide numerous different communications services acrossthe network. For example, the satellite communications network may beconfigured to provide a voice and/or telephony service as well as one ormore different data services, including, but not limited to, a shortdata message service, broadband Internet service, and streaming audioand/or video services.

Additionally or alternatively, the satellite communications network maybe configured to service numerous different types of terrestrialterminals. Such terminals may be designed to access one or more of thedifferent services available over the satellite communications network.Furthermore, such terminals may have different characteristics and/orspecifications based on the services that they are intended to access,the use cases and/or installations that they are designed for, and avariety of other factors (e.g., size, power, etc.). For example, asatellite telephone terminal may have different characteristics than aterminal designed to provide high speed data services to aircraft, and asatellite telephone terminal and a terminal designed to provide highspeed data services to aircraft both may have different characteristicsthan a terminal designed to provide high speed data services to acommercial ship like a container ship or a fishing vessel. Specificexamples of such different characteristics may include, but are notlimited to, different transmit equivalent (or effective) isotropicallyradiated power (“EIRP”) levels; different receive antenna gain-to-noisetemperature (“G/T”) ratios; different supported uplink and/or downlinkcarriers, including, for example, different radio frequency (“RF”)channel widths, different carrier signal modulation schemes, anddifferent forward error correction rates; different permitted signalbursts (or reuse units (“RUs”)) per time slot and/or frame; anddifferent permitted frequency assignments.

In some implementations, in order for a satellite to be able tosuccessfully communicate with each of the various different terminalsconfigured to communicate over the satellite communications network, itmay be important for the satellite to know the different types ofservices each terminal is designed to access and/or the differentcharacteristics or specifications of each terminal. In suchimplementations, a satellite may be able to control the manner in whichit communicates with different types of terminals to facilitatesuccessful communications with each of the different types of terminalsconfigured to communicate over the satellite communications network. Forexample, in some implementations, when a satellite establishescommunications with a terminal having a relatively low EIRP, thesatellite may determine to perform additional amplification of signalsreceived from the terminal than when the satellite establishescommunications with a terminal having a higher EIRP. Furthermore, insome implementations, the satellite may take a terminal's EIRP intoaccount in performing spectrum allocation planning and/orself-interference mitigation at the satellite level. Additionally oralternatively, when a satellite establishes communications with aterminal having a relatively low G/T ratio, the satellite may determineto transmit a higher power signal for the terminal than when thesatellite establishes communications with a terminal having a higher G/Tratio. Moreover, in some implementations, the satellite may take aterminal's G/T ratio into account in managing power transmission levelsat the satellite level. In such implementations, a satellite may have amaximum transmit power limit and the satellite may take the G/T ratiosof all terminals currently communicating and/or attempting tocommunicate with the satellite into account in determining transmitpower levels for each of the terminals. Similarly, in someimplementations, a satellite may determine appropriate uplink and/ordownlink carriers for communicating with a particular terminal based onthe different uplink and/or downlink carriers supported by terminalsbelonging to the terminal's terminal class. Likewise, in someimplementations, a satellite may determine how often to establish uplinkand/or downlink communications with a particular terminal based on thepermitted signal bursts/RUs per time slot and/or frame for terminalsbelonging to the terminal's terminal class. Additionally oralternatively, in some implementations, a satellite may determinefrequencies to assign for uplink and/or downlink communications with aparticular terminal based on the different permitted frequencyassignments for terminals belonging to the terminal's terminal class.

The teachings of the present disclosure present techniques foraccommodating different types of terminals in a satellite communicationsnetwork, including new terminal types introduced after the satellitecommunications network has been launched and deployed. As described ingreater detail below, in some implementations, individual satelliteswithin a satellite communications network may store a table, or otherdata structure, of defined terminal classes that specifies differentsets of attributes for each of a variety of different classes ofterminals. Examples of such attributes that may be specified for eachclass of terminal in such a table or other data structure may include,but are not limited to, transmit EIRP levels, receive G/T ratios,supported carriers, permitted signal bursts/RUs per time slot and/orframe, and permitted frequency assignments.

During a call setup process, when a terminal attempts to establish acommunications session over the satellite communications network, theterminal may transmit a terminal class identifier identifying theterminal class to which the terminal belongs to the satellite servicingthe terminal. The satellite then may use the terminal class identifierreceived from the terminal to identify different attributes of thecorresponding terminal class that are relevant to communicating with theterminal. Thereafter, the satellite may configure its communicationswith the terminal according to the attributes specified for the terminalclass identified as corresponding to the terminal.

Certain characteristics of the satellites of a satellite communicationsnetwork may not be capable of being changed (or may be difficult tochange) after the satellites have been launched and deployed. Forexample, in some implementations, the received signal strength floor,the maximum signal transmit power, the different supported services, thedifferent supported carriers, the different permitted signal bursts/RUsper time slot and/or frame, and the different transmit and/or receivefrequencies that the satellites are configured to be able to accommodatemay not be modifiable (or may be difficult to modify) after thesatellites have been launched and deployed. Nevertheless, given thevariety of different received signal strengths, transmit power levels,supported services, supported carriers, permitted signal bursts/RUs pertime slot and/or frame, and transmit and receive frequencies that thesatellites may be designed to support, there may be a vast number ofdifferent combinations of these characteristics and, thus, a vast numberof different classes of terminals that the satellites may be capable ofsupporting, some, or many of which, may not have been introduced priorto the launch and deployment of the satellites.

Uploading and/or configuring specific software modules to enable thesatellites to communicate with each of these different possible classesof terminals may be exceedingly difficult, cumbersome, resourceintensive, or costly, especially for new classes of terminals introducedafter the satellites have been launched and deployed. Therefore, priorto their launch and deployment, the satellites may be configured to becapable of communicating with each of the different possible classes ofterminals given the different possible combinations of characteristicsthat the satellites are capable of supporting. As specific classes ofterminals are introduced for operation on the satellite communicationsnetwork, entries identifying the particular sets of attributes relevantfor communicating with each class of terminal may be added to the table,or other data structure, of defined terminal classes. Then, when aspecific terminal attempts to establish a communications session overthe satellite communications network, the terminal may transmit aterminal class identifier identifying the terminal class to which theterminal belongs to the satellite serving the terminal such that thesatellite can ascertain the terminal class of the terminal and adapt itscommunications with the terminal accordingly. In this manner, thesatellites of a satellite communications network may be able toaccommodate and successfully communicate with a wide range of differentterminal classes, including both terminals that existed prior to thelaunch and deployment of the satellites as well as newly introducedterminals that had not been introduced when the satellites were launchedand deployed.

With reference to FIG. 1 , a system for accommodating multiple differentterminal classes in a satellite communications system is illustrated inaccordance with a non-limiting implementation of the present disclosure.System 100 includes satellites 10 and 20 in a satellite communicationsnetwork that also includes earth terminal 80 and terrestrial terminals70, 72, and 74. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , satellites 10 and 20 areequipped with crosslink antennas that enable satellites 10 and 20 toestablish wireless inter-satellite communications crosslinks 35. As alsoillustrated in FIG. 1 , terminal 70 is a satellite telephone terminal,terminal 72 is installed on a ship and designed for maritimeapplications, and terminal 74 is installed on an aircraft and designedfor aviation applications. As such, each of terminals 70, 72, and 74 maybe designed to access one or more different services available over thesatellite communications network and may have different characteristicsand/or specifications, such as, for example, different transmit EIRPlevels, different G/T ratios, different supported carriers, differentpermitted signal bursts/RUs per time slot and/or frame, and differentpermitted frequency assignments. Although not illustrated in FIG. 1 , itwill be appreciated that thousands, hundreds of thousands, or evenmillions of terrestrial terminals, including many different types ofterminals, may communicate over the satellite communications network.

Satellites 10 and 20 each have onboard communications controllers thatinclude or have access to onboard memory that stores terminal classtables or other data structures. Such terminal class tables or otherdata structures specify different sets of attributes for each of avariety of different classes of terminals that are intended tocommunicate over the satellite communications network. When a particularterminal attempts to establish a communications session over thesatellite communications network with one of satellites 10 or 20, aspart of the call setup process, the terminal transmits a terminal classidentifier to the serving satellite, which uses the received terminalclass identifier to perform a lookup function in the terminal classtable or other data structure to identify the terminal class type forthe particular terminal and relevant attributes for communicating withthe particular terminal. Thereafter, the serving satellite may configureits communications with the particular terminal according to itsterminal class type. For example, the satellite may tailor one or moreof transmit power, receive amplification and/or processing, carriersignals, signal bursts/RUs per time slot and/or frame, frequencyassignments, and/or other characteristics for communicating with theparticular terminal.

For example, when terminals 70, 72, and 74 attempt to establishcommunications over the satellite communications network, terminals 70,72, and 74 may transmit terminal class identifiers to the servingsatellites 10 and 20 through which they are attempting to establishcommunications sessions, and the serving satellites 10 and 20 mayconfigure their communications with terminals 70, 72, and 74 differentlyaccording to the specific attributes of each terminal class identifiedfor terminals 70, 72, and 74.

As new classes of terminals are introduced for use on the satellitecommunications network, the terminal class tables stored in memory onboard satellites 10 and 20 may be updated, for example viacommunications sent to satellites 10 and 20 via earth terminal 80, toadd records for the new terminal classes that specify different sets ofattributes for each of the newly introduced terminal classes.

With reference to FIG. 2 , a block diagram of a satellite 200 for use ina satellite communications network configured to accommodate multipleterminal classes is illustrated in accordance with a particularnon-limiting implementation of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 2 , satellite 200 includes solar arrays 210 and a primary payload260 housing a communications controller (not shown) configured tocontrol main antenna system 230 and crosslink antennas 250.Communications controller further includes one or more processors orother processing elements (not shown) and a memory (not shown) thatstores a terminal class table, or other data structure, in accordancewith the terminal class tables or other data structures described in thepresent disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 3 , a flow chart 300 of a method foraccommodating multiple terminal classes in a satellite communicationssystem is illustrated in accordance with a non-limiting implementationof the present disclosure. Such a method may be implemented, forexample, within a communications controller of a satellite.

At step 310, a terminal class identifier is received from a terrestrialterminal device. For example, a terrestrial terminal device may initiatea communications session with a serving satellite within a satellitecommunications network. During the call setup process, the terminaldevice may negotiate communications settings with the serving satelliteproviding satellite network coverage to the terminal. During thisprocess, the serving satellite receives the terminal class identifierfrom the terminal device.

At step 320, a terminal attribute set corresponding to the receivedterminal class identifier is identified. For example, the communicationscontroller of the serving satellite may include or have access to memorythat stores a terminal class table or other data structure thatspecifies different sets of attributes for each of a variety ofdifferent classes of terminals that are intended to communicate over thesatellite communications network. In some particular implementations,such a terminal class table may include a separate row for each terminalclass. The communications controller may perform a lookup on theterminal class table using the terminal class identifier to identify thecorresponding set of attributes relevant to communicating with theparticular terminal class to which the terminal belongs.

At step 330, the communications controller controls the satellite tocommunicate with the terminal device according to the attributesspecified in the terminal attribute set identified as corresponding tothe received terminal class identifier.

With reference to FIGS. 4A-4B, an example terminal class table isillustrated in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, the terminal class tableincludes six rows corresponding to six different classes of terminals(i.e., Terminal Classes 0-5). Although the example terminal class tableillustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B shows six different terminal classes, it willbe understood that implementations may include several hundred or moredifferent terminal classes.

As also illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, the terminal class table specifies ahigher-level class for each terminal reflected in the terminal classtable. In particular, the example terminal class table illustrated inFIGS. 4A-4B identifies Terminal Classes 0 and 3 as belonging to the“Broadband Terminal” higher-level class, Terminal Classes 1, 4, and 5 asbelonging to the “Narrowband Terminal” higher-level class, and TerminalClass 2 as belonging to the “Handheld Terminal” higher-level class.

The example terminal class table illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B alsospecifies G/T ratios and EIRP levels for each terminal class along withsupported uplink and downlink carriers for each terminal class. Inparticular, for each supported carrier, the example terminal class tableidentifies an RF channel width, a modulation scheme, and a forward errorcorrection rate. As illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, the RF channel width fora particular supported carrier is identified as either being C1, C2, orC8, where C1 represents a single channel width, C2 represents a doublechannel width, and C8 represents an octuple channel width. In oneparticular implementation, a single channel width may represent a 41 kHzchannel, a double channel width may represent an 82 kHz channel, and anoctuple channel width may represent a 328 kHz channel. As alsoillustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, the modulation scheme for a particularsupported carrier is identified as being either QPSK (quadrature phaseshift keying), QPSL, or 16 APSK (16-amplitude and phase-shift keying or16-asymmetric phase-shift keying). Furthermore, the forward errorcorrection rate for each particular supported carrier is illustrated inFIGS. 4A-4B as either ⅔ or ⅘, where the ⅔ forward error correction ratesignifies that approximately ⅓ of the transmitted data is redundant (andfor forward error correction purposes), and the ⅘ forward errorcorrection rate signifies that approximately ⅕ of the transmitted datais redundant (and for forward error correction purposes).

The example terminal class table illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B alsospecifies permitted signal bursts/RUs per time slot and frame for boththe uplink and downlink for each particular terminal class. For example,for Terminal Class 0, the terminal class table identifies the maximumpermitted signal bursts per time slot on the uplink as 1 and the maximumpermitted signal bursts per frame on the uplink as 4. Similarly, theterminal class table identifies the maximum permitted signal bursts pertime slot on the downlink as 2 and the maximum permitted signal burstsper frame on the downlink as 8. Likewise, for Terminal 1, the terminalclass table identifies the maximum permitted signal bursts per time sloton the uplink as 1, the maximum permitted signal bursts per frame on theuplink as 4, the maximum permitted signal bursts per time slot on thedownlink as 1, and the maximum permitted signal bursts per frame on thedownlink as 4.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, the example terminal class table alsospecifies certain permitted frequency assignments for each particularterminal class. More particularly, the example terminal class tablespecifies different schemes for allocating uplink or downlinkfrequencies when the different terminal classes are transmitting orreceiving, respectively, via an octuple RF channel width (i.e., in thecolumn labeled “C8 RU Type”) and required uplink frequency assignmentsfor terminal classes permitted to transmit multiple signal bursts/RUsper time slot (i.e., in the column labeled “Uplink RU Adjacency”). Forexample, the terminal class table specifies that terminals shall beassigned to either a broadband wild card reuse unit frequency scheme(“BBWCRU”) or a wild car reuse unit frequency scheme (“WCRU”). Suchassignments may enable satellites to assign frequencies to individualterminals in a manner that reduces the likelihood of problematicinterference between terminals. With respect to terminals that arepermitted to transmit multiple signal bursts/RUs per time slot, theexample terminal class table illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B specifies thatthe terminals either are or are not required to transmit concurrentsignal bursts in adjacent frequencies if they transmit two signal burstsin the same time slot.

In certain implementations, use of terminal class identifiers withterminal class tables or other data structures as disclosed herein mayreduce satellite system to terminal negotiation during the call setupprocess, which may reduce bandwidth or other resource utilization duringthe call setup and initiation phases and/or shorten the call setup andinitiation phases. Additionally or alternatively, the use of a terminalclass identifiers with terminal class tables or other data structuresmay help avoid a need for complicated and/or resource intensive softwareupdates to satellites as new terminal types are introduced.

Aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely inhardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.) or in combinations of software and hardware that mayall generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,”“component,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosuremay take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or morecomputer-readable media having computer-readable program code embodiedthereon.

Any combination of one or more computer-readable media may be utilized.The computer-readable media may be a computer-readable signal medium ora computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage mediummay be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device,or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (anon-exhaustive list) of such a computer-readable storage medium includethe following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an appropriate optical fiberwith a repeater, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, acomputer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain, or store, a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer-readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer-readable signal medium may be any computer-readable medium thatis not a computer-readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program codeembodied on a computer-readable signal medium may be transmitted usingany appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF signals, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent disclosure may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including object oriented programming languages,dynamic programming languages, and/or procedural programming languages.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate examples ofthe architecture, functionality, and operation of possibleimplementations of systems, methods and computer program productsaccording to various aspects of the present disclosure. In this regard,each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executableinstructions for implementing the specified logical function(s).

It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order illustrated inthe figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact,be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularaspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of anymeans or step plus function elements in any claims are intended toinclude any disclosed structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. The aspects of the disclosure herein were chosen anddescribed in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and thepractical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the artto understand the disclosure with various modifications as are suited tothe particular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communications satellite comprising: a mainantenna system configured to send communications to and receivecommunications from one or more terrestrial terminal devices in asatellite communications network; and a communications controller havinga memory storing a plurality of terminal attribute sets, each terminalattribute set specifying attributes for communicating with acorresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices, the communicationscontroller configured to: receive, via the main antenna system, aterminal class identifier from an active terrestrial terminal device;identify, from among the stored terminal attribute sets, a particularterminal attribute set as corresponding to the terminal class identifierreceived from the active terrestrial terminal device; and control thecommunications satellite to communicate with the active terrestrialterminal device according to the attributes for communicating specifiedin the particular terminal attribute set identified as corresponding tothe terminal class identifier received from the active terrestrialterminal device.
 2. The communications satellite of claim 1, furthercomprising a crosslink antenna system configured to facilitatecommunications between the communications satellite and one or moreother communications satellites within the satellite communicationsnetwork.
 3. The communications satellite of claim 1, wherein thecommunications controller is further configured to receive an update tothe plurality of terminal attribute sets, the update comprising a newterminal attribute set for a new class of terrestrial terminal devices.4. The communications satellite of claim 3, wherein the terminal classidentifier received from the active terrestrial terminal devicecorresponds to the new terminal attribute set, and wherein the activeterrestrial terminal device is designed to communicate according to theattributes for communicating specified in the new terminal attributeset.
 5. The communications satellite of claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of terminal attribute sets specifies attributes forcommunicating with a corresponding class of terrestrial terminaldevices, comprising: antenna attributes for the corresponding class ofterrestrial terminal devices; and carriers supported by thecorresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices.
 6. Thecommunications satellite of claim 4, wherein the new terminal attributeset corresponds to a new class of terrestrial terminal devicesintroduced to the satellite communications network after the launch ofthe communications satellite.
 7. The communications satellite of claim2, wherein the communications controller is further configured toprocess communications received from the active terrestrial terminaldevice as radio frequency signals, the radio frequency signals complyingwith one or more of the attributes for communicating specified in theparticular terminal attribute set identified as corresponding to theterminal class identifier received from the active terrestrial terminaldevice.
 8. The communications satellite of claim 7, wherein thecommunications controller is further configured to control thecommunications satellite to retransmit the communications received fromthe active terrestrial terminal device to a terrestrial earth terminalvia one or more other communications satellites in the satellitecommunications network using the crosslink antenna system.
 9. Thecommunications satellite of claim 7, wherein the communications receivedfrom the active terminal device are voice communications.
 10. Thecommunications satellite of claim 7, wherein the communications receivedfrom the active terminal device are data communications.
 11. Thecommunications satellite of claim 5, wherein the antenna attributes forthe corresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices comprise: anantenna gain-to-noise-temperature attribute for the corresponding classof terrestrial terminal devices; and an equivalent isotropicallyradiated power attribute for the corresponding class of terrestrialterminal devices.
 12. The communications satellite of claim 5, whereinthe carriers supported by the corresponding class of terrestrialterminal devices comprise supported carrier modulation schemes for thecorresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices.
 13. A method ofoperating a communications satellite, the method comprising: storing, ina memory associated with a communications controller of thecommunications satellite, a plurality of terminal attribute sets, eachterminal attribute set specifying attributes for communicating with acorresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices; receiving, via amain antenna system of the communications satellite configured to sendcommunications to and receive communications from one or moreterrestrial terminal devices in a satellite communications network, aterminal class identifier from an active terrestrial terminal device;identifying, from among the stored terminal attribute sets, a particularterminal attribute set as corresponding to the terminal class identifierreceived from the active terrestrial terminal device; and controllingthe communications satellite to communicate with the active terrestrialterminal device according to the attributes for communicating specifiedin the particular terminal attribute set identified as corresponding tothe terminal class identifier received from the active terrestrialterminal device.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:receiving an update to the plurality of terminal attribute sets at thecommunications controller, the update comprising a new terminalattribute set for a new class of terrestrial terminal devices; andstoring the new attribute set in the memory.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein the terminal class identifier received from the activeterrestrial terminal device corresponds to the new terminal attributeset, and wherein the active terrestrial terminal device is designed tocommunicate according to the attributes for communicating specified inthe new terminal attribute set.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein eachof the plurality of terminal attribute sets specifies attributes forcommunicating with a corresponding class of terrestrial terminaldevices, comprising: antenna attributes for the corresponding class ofterrestrial terminal devices; and carriers supported by thecorresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the carriers supported by the corresponding class ofterrestrial terminal devices comprise supported carrier modulationschemes for the corresponding class of terrestrial terminal devices. 18.The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving communicationsfrom the active terrestrial terminal device as radio frequency signalsthat comply with one or more of the attributes for communicatingspecified in the particular terminal attribute set identified ascorresponding to the terminal class identifier received from the activeterrestrial terminal device.
 19. The method of claim 18, furthercomprising: retransmitting the communications received from the activeterrestrial terminal device to a terrestrial earth terminal via one ormore other communications satellites in the satellite communicationsnetwork.
 20. A communications satellite comprising: a main antennasystem configured to send communications to and receive communicationsfrom one or more terrestrial terminal devices in a satellitecommunications network; and a communications controller having a memorystoring a plurality of terminal attribute sets, each terminal attributeset specifying attributes for communicating with a corresponding classof terrestrial terminal devices including an antenna gain-to-noisetemperature attribute, an equivalent isotropically radiated powerattribute, and one or more supported digital modulation schemes forcarrier signals for the corresponding class of terrestrial terminaldevices, the communications controller configured to: receive, via themain antenna system, a terminal class identifier from an activeterrestrial terminal device; identify, from among the stored terminalattribute sets, a particular terminal attribute set as corresponding tothe terminal class identifier received from the active terrestrialterminal device; and control the communications satellite to communicatewith the active terrestrial terminal device according to the antennagain-to-noise temperature attribute, the equivalent isotropicallyradiated power attribute, and a particular one of the supported digitalmodulation schemes for carrier signals specified in the particularterminal attribute set identified as corresponding to the terminal classidentifier received from the active terrestrial terminal device.